Things We Lost In The Fire
by NightmarexMockingbird
Summary: You can beat her, torture her, or even kill her - but don't touch her family. After receiving a strange note, Kagura comes face-to-face with a threat she had known was a long time coming. Torn between protecting her friends and family from her brother, or protecting them from her fragile psyche and Yato instincts, which will be the more dangerous of the two? eventualOkikagu


**Hey guys! I have been really dying to read some fics about one of my big OTPs, but I can't really seem to find any good ones? Or none that have this specific plot... so I decided to write it myself! (lol) Hope you guys enjoy, and I apologize if my words sound awkward. I might be a bit rusty D; Also, I made this take place 2 years in the future, so everyone's a bit older in this fic :) Alright! Onward to the story!**

 **I do not own Gintama, please do not sue me.**

* * *

The sun was high in the sky by midday, not a cloud in sight to block out any of the warm light shining on the wandering citizens of Kabukicho. Vendors fervently trying to sell their goods outside their shop doors and the traffic of prospective customers made the streets just as alive as they'd always been. Other people who had no interest in shopping, however, steadily made their way through the throngs of people. Among this same crowd is where we find our heroes, albeit moving at their own sluggish pace, unaffected by the extra side characters.

The everyday hustle and bustle of the city was an ever familiar sight to the three Yorozuya members that dragged their feet along the dirt road leading them back to their base of operations. Another measly job involving a ridiculous request with meager pay had been completed, with every single thing that could go wrong doing exactly that. This made collecting payment quite difficult, but the smooth talking silver haired samurai managed to coax it out of the customer before the three Odd Jobs members made a mad dash away from the potential crime scene they had no doubt instigated.

Hopefully they didn't wake up with the Shinsengumi in their faces the next day, handcuffing them.

"Gin-san, you know you basically just swindled that man out of his money, right?" The glasses character of the trio laughed humorlessly. The leader of the group, much older and taller than his two teenage companions with an unruly head of curly silver hair, gave Shinpachi a shit-eating grin. The shorter vermillion haired girl behind him stuck her pinky in her nostril, as per usual, trying to occupy her hands before getting home.

"That old fart had it comin', ya hear? Expecting us to do all that work for 'im and then not wantin' to pay us!" The girl piped up.

"Exactly, Kagura-chan," the oldest male agreed, mirroring the girl's actions and picking his own nose. "And _someone's_ gotta pay the bills. You're the one that's always on my ass about paying you this month's wages, right?"

" _YOU_ DON'T PAY THE BILLS!" Shinpachi screeched at the nonchalant samurai, pointing an incredulous finger in his direction. "AND YOU'VE _NEVER_ PAID US WAGES! IF YOU WERE TO PAY US WHAT YOU OWE US, YOU'D HAVE TO GIVE KAGURA-CHAN AND I ALL THE MONEY IN YOUR HAND AND IT _STILL_ WOULDN'T BE ENOUGH!"

Gin nodded in agreement. "Mm, mm. So it's better that I use this money towards something that will be in all of our interest," he said with his chin in his fist in a thoughtful pose. "I understand, Patsuan. With that in mind, I'll head straight to the Pachinko machines."

Both Shinpachi and Kagura's faces twisted into menacing expressions as their temples throbbed with anger, both teens snatching hold of the back of Gin's collar as he tried to make his escape with the cash.

They had just about reached the building that made up their makeshift home, the now bruised (courtesy of Kagura) older man in tow, when a figure stepped out from the entrance to the small snack bar underneath the Yorozuya balcony sign.

"OI, GINTOKI!" A shout made the three jump as they instantly recognized the owner of the voice. It was Granny Otose, owner of the bar and Gin's apartment that resided above it, glaring from the doorway. "I see you earned some money! Where's this month's rent?!"

Gin spent no time before sprinting past both her and the building altogether, making a sharp left turn down an adjacent alleyway to, quite literally, run from his problems. Shinpachi let out an aggravated yell and took off after him, shouting something about wanting to buy Otsuu's new CD, Kagura not far behind. The slick bastard still had the money with him! Who knows where he was headed!

"Oh, Kagura-chan, I have something for you!" Otose suddenly called out to the 16 year-old amanto. Kagura paused in her pursuit of Gin and Shinpachi before getting to the mouth of the alley, barely glancing back at her friends as she turned and skipped her way back to the older woman who had piqued her interest.

"For me? What is it? Is it edible?" the girl cheerily questioned. Otose gave her a smile before she fished the item from her kimono sleeve, holding her cigarette in her other hand idly.

"I don't think you should eat it," Otose chuckled. Kagura was practically jumping in excitement. "A strange man came and left it here earlier while you all were gone. I don't know what it says, but he gave me clear instructions that I give it to you as soon as I saw you next."

Kagura visually deflated as she saw it was not a gift of any kind, but instead, a simple piece of wrinkled and dirty paper, folded twice. The simplicity of it bored the younger girl instantly, but she accepted it nonetheless, opening it and lazily glancing at the scribbled writing.

What she read made her pale skin lose any pigment of color in an instant.

 _He's on his way._

 _Meet me at the city park at 9 o'clock._

 _I'd rather not see this bloodshed._

 _-Your neighborly Yato clansman_

Kagura stood there for a few earth-shattering seconds, too taken aback to do much of anything else. Her breathing shallowed until it got stuck in her suddenly dry throat. Her brain whirled as too many thoughts flew through it at once. Bright blue eyes squinted at the little paper, rereading the scrawl over and over again before understanding finally dawned on her.

Kamui.

 _Kamui was on his way._

 _ **Here.**_

Kagura's alarmed state of mind did not escape Otose's sharp eye, nor did the way the female's hand grip the paper with such ferocity. Oh, how Otose regretted not reading the note before handing it over to its recipient.

"Kagura-chan?" The aged woman worriedly put a hand on her shoulder, effectively catching her attention. Kagura looked up with a look in her eyes that Otose could only recognize as apprehension. Certainly not a look that was usually associated with the alien that lived with Gintoki in the flat above her bar. Needless to say, Otose was instantly anxious.

Kagura brushed aside Otose's obvious concern, too riled up to think about how her panic must have shown a second ago. "Granny, what did the guy who gave you this look like?!"

The tone in Kagura's voice left little room for question as her azure eyes flashed. The look, although knowing it wasn't directed at her, gave Otose goosebumps.

"H-he was a rather large man, with longer hay-colored hair, I think. He also wore darker clothes. He... had a black cape, too." After giving all the distinct details she could about the man, she took a drag of her cigarette as she turned her head, trying to chase the chill that Kagura's behavior left in her bones.

Kagura felt the knot in her stomach loosen a fraction at Otose's information. She unclenched her teeth that she had unknowingly been grinding at the thought of her older brother possibly being so near to her home, let alone her ragtag family. _At least it wasn't Kamui who left this weird note. That shitty brother…_ But then... who had left it?

The description seemed to somewhat appease the amanto, who looked deep in thought. Silence and smoke from Otose's fading cigarette enveloped the space between the two women, dragging on for a few moments, before the older woman cleared her throat and asked, "... Is everything alright?"

Kagura didn't want Granny to worry. The minute she thought something might be up, the sooner Gin-chan and the rest would find out. _I can't let Kamui, or whoever sent this note, get to them. I won't allow it._

Fast enough to make Otose wary, but not outright suspicious, Kagura lifted her head and gave her a grin. She stuffed the crumpled paper into her pants' pocket and nodded. "Yep! All good. Thanks, Granny!"

She began to make her way back to the alleyway that Gin and Shinpachi were long gone from and attempt to begin scouring the town for them, when another call from behind stopped her once more. Otose was leaning on the sliding door's threshold, eyeing her as she talked.

"I just remembered something else; that guy - he was also missing his left arm."

Kagura's eyes widened a fraction, then turned a steely, less vibrant shade of her normal blue before nodding in understanding. She then turned and dashed into the alley as Sadaharu, who had heard the commotion and voice of his master from the flat, followed after Kagura to the back of the building. Otose could only watch the girl's retreating back, left to wonder what the connection between her and the stranger was, and what on earth the note could've said to turn the brave young lady into a ball of nerves.

* * *

"Okita-san, I know it's late, but you should really pay more attention to your surroundings instead of slacking off and... Captain. Captain!"

The boy barely moved an inch after hearing his name being called, trying but failing to fall asleep standing upright against an illumianted light pole by the side of the road. The sandy haired man blearily looked towards his patrol partner for the night, though his sleeping mask made making eye contact with him impossible. Despite this, Yamazaki could practically feel the glare his captain was giving him from under the weird red piece of cloth.

"Yamazaki-san, please shut your mouth before I report your unsightly reports about Yorozuya's robot to the Commander again," Okita warned his subordinate in a matter-of-fact tone. He heard a small yelp come from his subordinate at the threat, giving him a nice reprieve from the annoying voice. Having shut the man up, Sougo pried the sleeping mask off of his head, sighing in annoyance at having to cut his "break" short.

"We can meet up with the next shift in 10 minutes," the red-eyed captain stated in monotone as he scratched the back of his head. "Let's head back to Headquarters."

"Y-yes, sir," Yamazaki meekly agreed, not wanting to incur the wrath of his sadistic division captain.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes, the night air becoming colder as the stars became more visible. Nightly patrol bored Okita, simply because nothing suspicious had happened for the last couple of weeks after dusk. Hijikata had put him on the night shift just to annoy him, as he knew his commander was aware of the lack of action these days.

Ruby eyes watched the dark night sky as Sougo let his feet direct him down the all-too-familiar dirt streets of Kabukicho. Nothing had come of tonight's patrol, either.

The 1st Division Shinsengumi Captain was so engrossed in watching the stars, counting off new ways to kill Hijikata in the morning that he didn't even notice the slowing and eventual halting of Yamazaki's footsteps behind him as they passed an intersection.

"Hey, Captain."

Sougo continued to walk.

"Psst! Captain!" Yamazaki stubbornly whispered. Finally turning back to look at the man with disinterest, Okita stopped about 10 feet ahead of him.

Okita looked at him questioningly. His eyes followed the direction the other man's finger was pointing, and upon finding the object in question that grabbed his subordinate's attention, was even more confused.

"China girl?"

"Captain, isn't that girl a part of the Odd Jobs? What's _she_ doing out here so late?"

Indeed, it was China girl. Her bright red chinese styled pants and long sleeved top was like a beacon in the darkness every time she walked under a street lamp, her back facing them as she continued in an opposite direction about 50 feet away. But something was… odd, about her this time. And it wasn't the fact that the Boss and Glasses weren't with her. Granted, the brat was always weird, period, in Okita's opinion, but there were a few things that he noticed about the younger girl that spiked his curiosity.

For one, she was sticking to the shadows, keen on remaining in the light spilling on to the street as little as possible. Second, despite it being late at night, she had taken her signature purple umbrella with her. Not that that in itself was suspicious, but it was the _way_ she was carrying it; with a vice-like grip that made her muscles taut and shoulders appear stiff in a way that screamed at Okita in familiarity, even from a great distance away.

It was the same way his own shoulders tensed as he carried his sword into battle.

A sadistic smirk pulled on the young man's face as he decided that maybe this night wasn't going to end uneventfully. A fight with the China girl to release some pent up energy didn't sound so bad, and his potential opponent seemed to be itching for a fight anyway, by the looks of it.

Yamazaki watched on as his captain headed in the direction he had pointed out the bright haired girl in. At first he was confused as to whether he should trail behind him, knowing that the fights between the two rivals always quickly escalated to a death match. After figuring that he would get in trouble by leaving his post at the captain's side, though, he quickly caught up to Okita.

He had a sneaking suspicion that they wouldn't be able to meet with the shift change in 10 minutes, though.

* * *

 **Thanks again for reading, guys! I'll continue when I get time, and I'm actually excited about writing these two so I think ch 2 will be up fairly soon. R &R! Comments are very much appreciated!**


End file.
